Cyclones Pitching Monday

Something IntriguingLuis Cessa: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. I saw Cessa a year ago in the GCL, and the now-20 year old has made nice progress. He was sitting 91-92 with his fastball on Monday, with some 93 and 94 mixed in. He showed a curveball at 74-75 mph. When he rushed it, it came out slurvily at 77 mph. Both his slider and changeup were in the 81 mph range. He mixed all four pitches nicely through the first three innings, but got himself into a fastball rut in the fourth. He faced the minimum through three innings thanks to a a first-inning caught stealing and a double-play by way of second in the second. A double, two walks, and an infield hit helped produce two runs against him in the fourth inning. His curve and change could become average pitches.

Cessa has a nice build at 6’3″ with some room to fill out. It seemed that there was some effort in his delivery, although he repeated solidly through the first three innings. In the fourth, Bobby Ojeda, doing the game for SNY, thought that he lost his “rhythm” and was out of sync, pulling pitches across the plate.

There’s no reason to go crazy, good or bad about Cessa at his point, but make sure to watch his progress. On a team with many bigger names, he’s certainly an interesting arm.

Seriously?Juan Urbina came out of the Brooklyn bullpen to pitch the eighth inning. It was rather telling that he did not begin the season in the Cyclones’ rotation. He came out tossing fastballs in the mid 80s, with lousy control. The guns had him as low as 82 and but mostly 83 and 84 mph with a few 85 and topping at 86. I saw one 88, but I believe that was off the bat after contact. He threw a few unexceptional curveballs at 75 mph. His line: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K. Boy, was that disappointing.

Good Work
Reliever John Mincone held the Renegades off the scoreboard in the 9th, 10th and 11th innings, twice stranding runners aboard. He was working at 87 mph in the first inning and down to 85 in his third inning of work with a curve at 72-75 and a changeup at 83. He’ll get guys out in the NYP.